Sanitary showers of this type are in use in particular as head showers, hand showers and side showers. In the conventional manner, the shower body is most commonly formed by a cylindrical shower housing which, on an outlet-sided end side, displays a jet disk having a plurality of jet outlet openings and, on another side, e.g. on the opposite end side or on the cylinder-jacket face, has the water inlet and is otherwise implemented in a closed manner. In the case of these conventional showers various shower-head components, such as water containing duct structures of the housing, water containing inserts, valves and similar, are accommodated in the housing, wherein the jet disk conceals from view these internal components of the conventional shower heads from the outlet side and completely covers them. The jet pattern which is generated by the sanitary shower is a result of the arrangement and the implementation of the jet outlet openings, wherein corresponding types of known showers make possible a plurality of different jet patterns, the user being able to switch from one to the other by way of an operating element which is provided on the shower housing or on the jet disk.
It is in particular for head showers that other shower-head designs which are less restricted in their design have also already been proposed, including such having an annular shower-jet outlet body or having a plate-shaped shower-jet outlet body in which an illumination may be integrated.
It is an object of the invention to provide a sanitary shower of the type mentioned at the outset by way of which the diversity of shapes and functions can be significantly widened in comparison to the known sanitary showers mentioned above.
This and other objects are achieved by providing a sanitary shower which comprises a connector body and a basket-type shower body disposed thereon. The connector body includes a water inlet connectable to a wall supply line. The wall supply line may be one which leads to a water supply connector on a ceiling wall or side wall of a shower room, for example.
The shower body is characteristically implemented in a basket-type manner, wherein it extends from the connector body up to an outlet sided basket terminal axially spaced from the connector body. The term outlet sided basket terminal here is to be understood to mean that side of the basket-type shower body that faces the user during operation and faces away from the connector body. Depending on requirements and on the type of application, the basket-type shower body is implemented as an open frame-type or aperture-type shower basket or as a closed lampshade-like shower basket. The water inlet is situated on an inlet side which lies opposite the outlet sided basket terminal or may be situated transversely to the axial direction of the basket-type shower body, on the connector body. The basket-type structure of the shower body defines, i.e. delimits a hollow basket interior space adjacent to the disk-shaped connector body. The outlet-sided basket terminal delimits an axial basket opening and/or a light transparent terminal disk element. Moreover, the sanitary shower includes one or more jet outlet openings which are provided on the basket-type shower body and/or on the connector body. A water conduit provides a fluid communication of the at least one jet outlet opening to the water inlet.
On account of the mentioned features the sanitary shower according to the invention enables a significant widening of the potential in terms of design and function of the entire shower body itself and also of providing advantageous jet patterns and jet characteristics of the shower jet(s) which can be generated by the sanitary shower. Depending on requirements, a plurality of jet outlet openings in various different arrangements may be provided on the basket-type shower body and/or on the connector body in this manner. The basket shape of the basket-type shower body may be varied in many different ways and be optimized according to standpoints of design and/or functionality. The same applies to, for example, the disk-shaped implementation of the connector body. The basket opening delimited by the outlet sided basket terminal, in terms of size, may be chosen depending on requirements, for example as a comparatively large opening which may extend over practically the entire basket cross section or as a tighter opening in comparison thereto.
In the embodiments in which the outlet sided basket terminal displays the light transparent terminal disk element, the latter may, as desired, leave or delimit, respectively, an axial basket opening or terminate the hollow basket interior space on the outlet side as a light transparent face. The characterizing term “light transparent” here is to be understood to mean both embodiments in which the terminal disk element is transparent to the observer and such which are opaque but, to illumination light, are at least part-transparent or which can emit diffused light or fluorescent light.
In one advantageous refinement of the invention, the basket-type shower body is configured so as to be bell-shaped and extends as a corresponding shower-body bell from the connector body with a radial main direction component up to an upper basket circumferential region and from there with an axial main direction component up to the outlet sided basket terminal. In this case, too, depending on requirements, open frame-type or alternatively closed bell shapes are possible for the basket-type shower body.
In one advantageous refinement of the invention the basket-type shower body includes a plurality of basket tubes arranged distributed over the basket circumferential direction to form a basket. Using these shower tubes, the basket-type shower body can provide an open basket frame. Alternatively, the basket tubes may carry a cover, if the shower basket is to be implemented in a closed manner.
In one refinement of the invention a plurality of jet outlet openings are provided on the outlet-sided basket terminal. In alternative or combined embodiments, the outlet-sided basket terminal, to this end, may have an annular and/or light transparent jet outlet disk having one or more jet outlet openings and/or at least one annular jet outlet tube having one or more jet outlet openings on a tube-jacket side and/or at least one radial jet outlet tube having a plurality of jet outlet openings on a tube jacket side. This enables numerous different variants of designs and jet patterns.
It is possible, in this manner, for a jet outlet region to include a plurality of jet outlet openings in a plane, preferably disposed in a round arrangement or circumferentially in an annular arrangement, advantageously but not necessarily on a continuous component, such as a jet disk. Here at least two such jet outlet regions may be provided, advantageously on different components and/or regions or at different axial spacing, respectively, preferably in relation to an axis of a rotational symmetry.
It is furthermore possible for a plurality of jet outlet openings to be arranged in different angles relative to one another. The jet outlet openings here in particular are in each case arranged in groups or form groups, respectively. Within one group the angular alignment is in each case identical, specifically either parallel with or coincidental with an axis which advantageously runs centrically through the group, preferably as an axis of a rotational symmetry. These groups of jet outlet openings may be provided in each case along closed lines or rings and/or exactly in one plane.
In one refinement of the invention the basket-type shower body includes at least one water containing tube, which tube is a component of the water conduit from the water inlet to the jet outlet opening(s). The water containing tube preferably simultaneously functions as a component of the shower-basket structure.
In one refinement of the invention, the connector body includes one or more jet outlet openings on an outlet side facing the basket interior. This enables a jet pattern in which a water jet exits from the connector body into the basket interior space, traverses the latter and then axially exits on the outlet sided basket terminal. If desired, additional water jets may exit via corresponding jet outlet openings at pre-definable points from the basket-type shower body itself.
In one advantageous refinement of the invention an illuminant is disposed in the basket interior, which illuminant is attached to the connector body or to the basket-type shower body. In this embodiment the function of providing the water jet of the shower is combined with an illuminating function. On account of arranging the illuminant in the basket interior space, the basket-type shower body thus adopts a type of lampshade function.
In the embodiment of this measure, the illuminant is an electric illuminant of which the electrical supply passes through the water inlet. Therefore, no separate electrical supply opening is required in the connector body or in the shower body.
In one refinement of the invention the sanitary shower includes a support and supply tube, in the form of an overhead shower ceiling wall support or an overhead shower side wall support or a lateral shower side wall support or a hand-held shower handle, and a water outlet section capable of being coupled to the water inlet of the connector body. The sanitary shower may thus be used as a head shower, a side shower or a hand shower, as desired.